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R. Douglas Fields

Neurologist, Author

R. Douglas Fields is a developmental neurobiologist and author of The Other Brain, a popular book about the discovery of brain cells (called glia) that communicate without using electricity. He is an authority on neuron-glia interactions, brain development, and the cellular mechanisms of memory. Fields serves on the editorial board of several neuroscience journals and also enjoys writing about science for the general public in Scientific American, Huffington Post, Psychology Today, Outside, Odyssey, BrainFacts.org, and others. He received advanced degrees from UC Berkeley, San Jose State University, and the University of California, San Diego. He held postdoctoral fellowships at Stanford, Yale, and the National Institutes of Health. He is currently chief of the section on nervous system development and plasticity at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the NIH. In addition to science, Fields enjoys building guitars, rock climbing, and scuba diving.

Participants

Kyle Patrick Alvarez is a Los Angeles–based director, writer, producer, and editor. The Stanford Prison Experiment marks his third film as a director. It premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival where it won two awards and will be released in theaters this summer through IFC Films.

Carmelo ‘Nino’ Amarena is an electrical engineer with expertise in the field of digital wireless communications. He is also an inventor, designing a personal rocketpack called the ‘Thunderpack,’ which uses a peroxide-based reciprocating engine.

Paula Amato is an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Oregon Health and Science University who specializes in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Some of her research explores the ways to reprogram aged, differentiated cells into pluripotent cells that can give rise to any cell type.

Yemi Amu is the owner and operator of Oko Farms, LLC, an urban aquaponics farm, education, and design company in Brooklyn, New York. Amu is the Farm Manager at the Moore Street Farm, an outdoor aquaponics farm developed by Oko Farms.

Kurt Andersen is the author of two novels, the critically acclaimed bestsellers Heyday and Turn of the Century. His forthcoming book is called Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America. He is also host and co-creator of the Peabody Award-winning public radio program Studio 360.